Week 11: vs Denver Broncos

FBG says: Neutral matchup. Philip Rivers had a very quiet game again last week as he didn't need to throw very often with a struggling Raiders offense on the other side. Rivers continues to be efficient though, completing nearly 70 percent of his passes last week while maintaining his streak of passing for multiple touchdowns in every game this season. With as well as Melvin Gordon is running, it is tough to expect a high ceiling from Rivers as the Chargers continue to lean on their ground game. Keenan Allen continues to lead this receiving group as he finally found the end zone last week for the first time since Week 1. Allen has been a very reliable target for Rivers this season, but he has not shown the big play ability of his wide receiver counterparts as Allen is not seeing very many downfield targets. At least he is seeing targets though, as Mike Williams didn't get a single look last week, showing off his floor as a pure touchdown-dependent option. Tyrell Williams has been more consistently involved in the offense as he has posted a couple big games and has multiple receptions in every game this season. Melvin Gordon also continues to be a big factor in this passing offense as he found the end zone for the fourth time through the air last week with five receptions for 72 yards. Gordon is now averaging four receptions and 45 receiving yards per game to help raise his fantasy floor while providing another great playmaker for Rivers to call upon--as if he didn't have enough!
The Broncos passing defense has been up and down this season, ranking average at best in most categories against the pass. They got off to a very sluggish start on the season, allowing over 270 passing yards in four straight games. Since Week 5 though, the Broncos have allowed over 215 passing yards just once--to Patrick Mahomes. They received the benefit of a sluggish weather game against the Rams along with some soft matchups with Josh Rosen and Sam Darnold over that span, but this defense has at least looked serviceable since their slow start. The pass rush has been hot for Denver recently. In the four games leading up to their Week 10 bye, the Broncos racked up a league-leading 17 sacks, with the dynamic duo of Von Miller and Bradley Chubb accounting for 11.5 of those. The secondary has been subpar with only Chris Harris to lean on as a solid slot cornerback. Bradley Roby started to play better for a couple games, but he suffered an injury in Week 8 and remains questionable to return. Harris should help keep Keenan Allen in check, but both Tyrell Williams and Mike Williams should have opportunities on the outside to make some big plays in this one.

Recent Stats and Projections

WEEK

OPP

oSNAP

RSH

YD

TD

TARG

REC

YD

TD

FumL

Pts

7

vs TEN

36

0

0

0

4

4

118

1

0

17.8

9

at SEA

47

0

0

0

3

2

23

1

0

8.3

10

at OAK

45

0

0

0

6

4

46

0

0

4.6

11

vs DEN

0

0

0

0

6

2

22

0

0

2.2

11

vs DEN

PROJ-Dodds

*

1

*

*

3

*

*

*

*

11

vs DEN

PROJ-Tremblay

*

1

*

*

3

*

*

*

*

11

vs DEN

PROJ-Bloom

*

0

*

*

4

*

*

*

*

Weekly Performance vs WR 1, WR 12, WR 24, WR 36

Percentile ranks

Tyrell Williams's percentile rank in each category, among WR with more than 50 fantasy points.

Recent Game Summaries

2018 Week 10 vs OAK (6 / 4 / 46 / 0 rec)

Williams had three short grabs and one long one, a deep floater near the sideline that Rivers perfectly dropped into his lap for a 31-yard gain. Williams also dropped an easy third down pass over the middle that would have resulted in a first down. But he tried running upfield before he actually secured the pass, which killed the drive.

2018 Week 9 vs SEA (3 / 2 / 23 / 1 rec)

Williams had two receptions in the game, both coming in the first half. He had a comeback for 11 yards over the middle of the field early on, and then added yet another touchdown to his fast-growing tally. As he was coming back to the football and falling to the ground, Rivers put a pass low where only Williams could get to him. Despite the defender being all over him, Williams snagged the ball and managed to land inbounds for the score. Replays appeared to show that part of his body may have come down out of bounds, but there was no real controversy when officials ruled it a score after review. Williams nearly added a 24-yard score in the second half, but a terrific defensive effort prevented that. Rivers again put the ball precisely where it needed to be and Williams needed to just let it come to him and walk into the end zone. But an outstretched arm barely tipped the ball away at the last moment for an incompletion.

2018 Week 7 vs TEN (4 / 4 / 118 / 1 rec)

Williams had a good day one play into the game. He streaked down the left sideline and right by the defender on the first offensive play of the game for Los Angeles. The cornerback was caught peeking into the backfield, and Williams never stopped running. Rivers hoisted a bomb to him perfectly in stride, and Williams outran the safety the rest of the way for the 75-yard score. Later in the half, he and Rivers used perfect timing on a comeback route to pick up 26 more yards. Williams' other two grabs were both much shorter gains (and those were the only four targets he saw in the game), but he has shown in recent weeks that he can be highly productive even with limited opportunities.

2018 Week 6 vs CLE (4 / 3 / 118 / 2 rec, 1 / 1 / 0 rush)

With the Chargers having so much success on the ground, Williams needed to be efficient with the targets he got. And efficient he was, going over 100 yards and two scores on a day where he saw just four targets. He made a tough grab on a deep ball down the seam from the shadow of his own end zone. Right after that, he was targeted on another deep ball in the end zone. Despite the fact that three defenders were surrounding him, one of them looked to be in position for an interception, and the other actually appeared to have his hands on it first, Williams skied high in the air to get his hands on it too and then wrestled it away from the defenders while they were on the ground. He added another touchdown later in the first half by again skying high above the defenders. It almost looked like he was floating to the ball, he was in the air so long. It was a perfect pass from Rivers, but Williams still made two phenomenal efforts for the pair of scores.

2018 Week 5 vs OAK (3 / 3 / 66 / 0 rec)

Williams' large contribution was early in the second half. Following a defensive interception, the Chargers were backed up against their own end zone. Rivers hoisted a ball deep downfield as Williams shook loose from the defense down the left side. The ball hung up just a bit, otherwise it may have gone for a 95-yard touchdown. But even though Williams had to wait a bit, it had enough air for him to get under it and complete the 48-yard reception. He had two heads-up plays as well; late in the first half, he brought in a quick slant over the middle and immediately went to the ground to save clock and set up one final play (but it went incomplete). And then late in the fourth quarter, he brought in a crossing route from Rivers and smartly went to the ground inbounds to keep the clock moving.

2018 Week 4 vs SF (5 / 3 / 48 / 0 rec)

Williams had just three catches, but two of them had an extremely high degree of difficulty. And one of those will be on every highlight reel you'll see, because it was an absolute circus catch. On the more standard catch of the two, he did a great job of making a tough catch with a defender all over him, and managed to stretch out over the first down marker as he was being tackled to extend a drive. But he saved his very best for last on an incredible second half reception. The defender had his back to Rivers, who floated a pass down the sideline to Williams. Williams jumped, then had to actually reach over the defender's back and also reach down to scoop it up and pull it back over the top of the defender's head to cradle it in for the reception. It kept the drive moving, and was just an outstanding athletic play.

2018 Week 3 vs LAR (3 / 2 / 22 / 0 rec, 1 / 14 / 0 rush)

On a day when Travis Benjamin was inactive and the Chargers trailed throughout, one would have expected Williams to have more involvement in the passing gameplan. As it stood, second-year man Mike Williams was the big recipient of the extra looks, as he went for two scores and a team high four receptions for 81 yards. For his part, Tyrell Williams didn't record his first catch until early in the fourth quarter on a crossing route. He added a reverse for 14 yards and another short catch, but he wasn't a focal point of the passing game - neither over the middle nor on deep routes.

2018 Week 2 vs BUF (3 / 3 / 48 / 0 rec)

Williams had two receptions in the first half, both wide open over the middle. On the second catch, he was upended during the tackle and the ball popped loose for a fumble. It appeared that the Bills had recovered the ball and even came out of the pile in possession, but the officials ruled that Williams had recovered it himself. Buffalo challenged, but the ball was returned to the Chargers. In the second half, the Chargers kind of took the air out of the ball and focused more on the ground game. But after just four total yards of offense through the entire third quarter, Williams broke loose for 18 yards on a crossing route to beat the blitz and restore some semblance of an offense for Los Angeles.

2018 Week 1 vs KC (5 / 2 / 8 / 1 rec)

Williams somewhat salvaged his fantasy owners with a late touchdown where he got loose in the back of the end zone, but it could have been so much more. On a day when several Charger receivers let Philip Rivers down with some drops, Williams had perhaps the most egregious of them all. Earlier in the game, he was targeted on a deep ball that went through his hands. It would have been a difficult catch and he may have been interfered with a bit when his arm was grabbed at the last moment, but the end result was an incomplete pass. But later in the first half, he shook loose from the defense and was wide open in the end zone. Actually the defender inexplicably dropped his coverage on Williams and he had nowhere near him when Rivers lofted the easy pass attempt for him. But the ball somehow bounced right through Williams' hands for an incompletion on what should have been one of the easiest touchdown receptions of his career.